Blame the Victim

Would you expect to see a story about identity theft written like this?

WASHINGTON - Online banking customers have donated $1.4 billion to other Web users, getting hoodwinked to pay for fancy cars, jewelry and tropical vacations, investigators have found.

Of course not. The story would rightly read:

WASHINGTON - Identity thieves have stolen $1.4 billion from online banking customers and used the money to buy fancy cars, jewelry and tropical vacations, investigators have found.

But that's just the angle being taken in this story about the GAO finding people have scammed government hurricane relief funds.

WASHINGTON - The government doled out as much as $1.4 billion in bogus assistance to victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, getting hoodwinked to pay for season football tickets, a tropical vacation and even a divorce lawyer, congressional investigators have found.

Yeah, blame the victim! The real story is this:

WASHINGTON - Criminals taking advantage of hurricanes Katrina and Rita have hoodwinked the government out of $1.4 billion in bogus assistance, using the money to pay for football tickets, tropical vacations and even a divorce lawyer, congressional investigators have found.

I'm jus' sayin' is all.